Cremations are underway for the 146 bodies recovered from a Las Vegas funeral home forced to shutter after failing to cremate them promptly — but families of the deceased say they’re worried they’ll receive the wrong ashes.
Nevada authorities shut down McDermott’s Funeral and Cremation Service earlier this month after finding the business had stored bodies for extended periods, including one that was in the facility for over 10 months.
The bodies, many of which have become severely decomposed, were moved to the nearby Davis Funeral Home. However, families of the deceased are now questioning how they will know whether they truly received their loved one’s remains, KTNV reported.
“Is it my mom?” questioned Dorothy Duran, whose mother’s remains were among the 146 recovered. “I know that it’s just her body … but that’s my mother. It breaks my heart that she got thrown away like garbage.”
Duran and many others in grief now also have to grapple with the fact that they will not be able to view their loved one’s remains before they are cremated.
“If you’re not tagging the bodies properly – whose ashes are you giving to these loved ones? How do you know who you are returning to? You don’t. You can’t,” said Keline Baez, who was also not allowed to view her mother’s ashes.
“Did they just bag her up? And left her in an 80-degree room with all these other bodies? Just left like trash,” Baez added.
The Nevada State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Services revoked the funeral home’s license earlier this month after recovering the remains. They also found the business had not cremated or disposed of eight bodies for months, even though the law dictates that they must be within a “reasonable period of time.”
While the law doesn’t specify what constitutes a “reasonable” period, investigators say what they found inside the facility was beyond disturbing.
Photos showed fluids dripping from one body to another. At least one body was left in a cooler without a lid, with their face fully exposed.
“The coroner said it was pretty bad… she said it was the worst she’s ever seen,” Duran added.
Duran says the funeral home’s owner, Chris Grant, should be in jail.
“He was paid to do one job — provide dignity in death. He didn’t do that. He broke that trust in the worst way possible,” Duran said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told the news station that they do not have any open investigations into the incident at this time. It was unclear if Grant would face charges.
The department did not immediately return a request for comment from The Independent.
Chris Grant has previously said that delays in processing were a result of waiting for approval from Clark County Social Services to pay for the treatment of bodies that went unclaimed or abandoned.
